Mikan= championChamberlain-from Philly to LA= championAbdul-Jabbar-from Milwaukee to LA= championShaq- from Orlando to LA= championDwight Howard- from Orlando to LA= leaves for Houston, Atlanta or Brooklyn after ONE SEASON?

The media will eat him alive. He'll be labeled as a quitter, and one who couldn't fill Wilt, Kareem and Shaq's shoes. I've been on record saying we need to trade him. I take that back. If he wants to leave, let him leave, and make his own bed. Mitch is in the driver's seat.

CarolinaLakerFan wrote:If Dwight leaves, he does severe damage to his legacy.

Mikan= championChamberlain-from Philly to LA= championAbdul-Jabbar-from Milwaukee to LA= championShaq- from Orlando to LA= championDwight Howard- from Orlando to LA= leaves for Houston, Atlanta or Brooklyn after ONE SEASON?

The media will eat him alive. He'll be labeled as a quitter, and one who couldn't fill Wilt, Kareem and Shaq's shoes. I've been on record saying we need to trade him. I take that back. If he wants to leave, let him leave, and make his own bed. Mitch is in the driver's seat.

CarolinaLakerFan wrote:If Dwight leaves, he does severe damage to his legacy.

Mikan= championChamberlain-from Philly to LA= championAbdul-Jabbar-from Milwaukee to LA= championShaq- from Orlando to LA= championDwight Howard- from Orlando to LA= leaves for Houston, Atlanta or Brooklyn after ONE SEASON?

The media will eat him alive. He'll be labeled as a quitter, and one who couldn't fill Wilt, Kareem and Shaq's shoes. I've been on record saying we need to trade him. I take that back. If he wants to leave, let him leave, and make his own bed. Mitch is in the driver's seat.

That's been my point all along.

If Dwight wants to go and wants to lose the respect of almost the entire NBA landscape AND 30 million in guaranteed salary on the table, let him do it. I don't see that happening. If he does he'll be the laughing stock of the NBA and he'll have proved all the doubters RIGHT. The only way for him to build a legacy now is to win here. End of story.

We've got another 2 years of potentially jaw dropping off-seasons to build teams. I don't see any real compelling reason to leave LA honestly.

If Dwight leaves the media will definitely eat him alive. He should do what he feels like he should do though. Why stay somewhere you don't want to be because of other people's opinions?

That said...I'm not only saying this because I do want him to stay, I'm saying it because I'm being realistic. If Dwight bolts he would just prove how he is looking for an easy way out & doesn't really care about beating the odds. Imagine through all this criticism he actually leads the Lakers to the promised land, there truly would be no accomplishment bigger for Dwight anywhere at any point of his career.

CarolinaLakerFan wrote:If Dwight leaves, he does severe damage to his legacy.

Mikan= championChamberlain-from Philly to LA= championAbdul-Jabbar-from Milwaukee to LA= championShaq- from Orlando to LA= championDwight Howard- from Orlando to LA= leaves for Houston, Atlanta or Brooklyn after ONE SEASON?

The media will eat him alive. He'll be labeled as a quitter, and one who couldn't fill Wilt, Kareem and Shaq's shoes. I've been on record saying we need to trade him. I take that back. If he wants to leave, let him leave, and make his own bed. Mitch is in the driver's seat.

That's been my point all along.

If Dwight wants to go and wants to lose the respect of almost the entire NBA landscape AND 30 million in guaranteed salary on the table, let him do it. I don't see that happening. If he does he'll be the laughing stock of the NBA and he'll have proved all the doubters RIGHT. The only way for him to build a legacy now is to win here. End of story.

We've got another 2 years of potentially jaw dropping off-seasons to build teams. I don't see any real compelling reason to leave LA honestly.

My fear is that he stays for those very reasons, yet continues to play for years to come with his heart not ever really in it. I honestly believe that he never wanted to be here from the beginning and he has tried to be PR-friendly in the meanwhile. Will winning and playing healthy change his mind about being in LA? It's a gamble...

“Action has meaning only in relationship; and without understanding relationship, action on any level will only breed conflict. The understanding of relationship is infinitely more important than the search for any plan of action.” -Jiddu Krishnamurti

I can see factors driving him to make a decision that would desire his motivation to leave town. The organization, fans, players & media all have very high expectations. He's not used to that. Can he get used to it and adjust? Of course. However, for Dwight, who cares about public perception, this is going to be a very big hurdle to work through. When you're winning they love you; when you're losing they're crucifying you.

He's had to get used to being the number 2 option for the first time in his career. It's been a process for him. It's not easy playing with Kobe who essentially has 1-2 more years. I honestly don't think they enjoy playing together, IMO. It's been that way for awhile. Kobe's isn't changing. Dwight just might bolt where they will cater to his needs & he might put that above winning, IMO.

CarolinaLakerFan wrote:If Dwight leaves, he does severe damage to his legacy.

Mikan= championChamberlain-from Philly to LA= championAbdul-Jabbar-from Milwaukee to LA= championShaq- from Orlando to LA= championDwight Howard- from Orlando to LA= leaves for Houston, Atlanta or Brooklyn after ONE SEASON?

The media will eat him alive. He'll be labeled as a quitter, and one who couldn't fill Wilt, Kareem and Shaq's shoes. I've been on record saying we need to trade him. I take that back. If he wants to leave, let him leave, and make his own bed. Mitch is in the driver's seat.

That's another reason im very confident that dwight isn't gonna walk no matter what. He hated the crap the media made him live through last year, and I think he would do anything to avoid that again. Plus his agent will be telling him that all the money is here, so I'm pretty sure he's not going to consider going to some mediocre team.

Before long, someone recognized Phil Jackson sitting in the front seat, and then the rocks began to fly. Revelers pelted the bus and shook it, mocking the Lakers at their lowest moment.

“It was painful,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol(notes) said. “It is a feeling that I want to keep in my mind for every single minute that I’m out there playing them.”

CarolinaLakerFan wrote:If Dwight leaves, he does severe damage to his legacy.

Mikan= championChamberlain-from Philly to LA= championAbdul-Jabbar-from Milwaukee to LA= championShaq- from Orlando to LA= championDwight Howard- from Orlando to LA= leaves for Houston, Atlanta or Brooklyn after ONE SEASON?

The media will eat him alive. He'll be labeled as a quitter, and one who couldn't fill Wilt, Kareem and Shaq's shoes. I've been on record saying we need to trade him. I take that back. If he wants to leave, let him leave, and make his own bed. Mitch is in the driver's seat.

That's another reason im very confident that dwight isn't gonna walk no matter what. He hated the crap the media made him live through last year, and I think he would do anything to avoid that again. Plus his agent will be telling him that all the money is here, so I'm pretty sure he's not going to consider going to some mediocre team.

Before long, someone recognized Phil Jackson sitting in the front seat, and then the rocks began to fly. Revelers pelted the bus and shook it, mocking the Lakers at their lowest moment.

“It was painful,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol(notes) said. “It is a feeling that I want to keep in my mind for every single minute that I’m out there playing them.”

If that is the case -- he really can't leave, then why doesn't he just say "I will be re-signing with the Lakers for the max." That would end all questions, and there would be no circus, no stress, no media and fans abusing him for putting the Lakers and other teams through another dwightmare. But since he won't commit, he is bringing the circus on himself.

CarolinaLakerFan wrote:If Dwight leaves, he does severe damage to his legacy.

Mikan= championChamberlain-from Philly to LA= championAbdul-Jabbar-from Milwaukee to LA= championShaq- from Orlando to LA= championDwight Howard- from Orlando to LA= leaves for Houston, Atlanta or Brooklyn after ONE SEASON?

The media will eat him alive. He'll be labeled as a quitter, and one who couldn't fill Wilt, Kareem and Shaq's shoes. I've been on record saying we need to trade him. I take that back. If he wants to leave, let him leave, and make his own bed. Mitch is in the driver's seat.

That's been my point all along.

If Dwight wants to go and wants to lose the respect of almost the entire NBA landscape AND 30 million in guaranteed salary on the table, let him do it. I don't see that happening. If he does he'll be the laughing stock of the NBA and he'll have proved all the doubters RIGHT. The only way for him to build a legacy now is to win here. End of story.

We've got another 2 years of potentially jaw dropping off-seasons to build teams. I don't see any real compelling reason to leave LA honestly.

My fear is that he stays for those very reasons, yet continues to play for years to come with his heart not ever really in it. I honestly believe that he never wanted to be here from the beginning and he has tried to be PR-friendly in the meanwhile. Will winning and playing healthy change his mind about being in LA? It's a gamble...

I think worst case scenario for him re-signing here would be him being unhappy until Kobe leaves. Then once Kobe leaves, we're building a team around him anyway. Why wouldn't he be excited again?

And I wouldn't underestimate the effect of winning on someone with such a fragile psyche. Not to mention health. If he were feeling healthier, I think his outlook would look WAY different.

therealdeal wrote:I think worst case scenario for him re-signing here would be him being unhappy until Kobe leaves. Then once Kobe leaves, we're building a team around him anyway. Why wouldn't he be excited again?

And I wouldn't underestimate the effect of winning on someone with such a fragile psyche. Not to mention health. If he were feeling healthier, I think his outlook would look WAY different.

The Lakers fan that I am is trying to be rational and patient. But the Kobe fan in me is sick that Kobe may be stuck on 5.

You may be right, but I think there may be something other than playing with kobe, losing, and not being healthy that Dwight isn't happy about. It may be the spotlight of LA and the Shaq, Wilt, Kareem legacy bullcrap that will always be there for Howard completely independent of those other factors. I hope I'm wrong because when happy, motivated, and healthy, Howard is by far the best option available.

“Action has meaning only in relationship; and without understanding relationship, action on any level will only breed conflict. The understanding of relationship is infinitely more important than the search for any plan of action.” -Jiddu Krishnamurti

Howard's Next Adidas Deal Could Double In Los Angeles Or New York AreasJul 03, 2012 1:57 PM EDT

Dwight Howard's next endorsement deal with Adidas would be worth significantly more money if he is playing in a major market such as Los Angeles or Brooklyn, according to sources.

Howard could possibly earn more than double in either of those markets than he would otherwise.

Howard has repeatedly expressed a preference to end up with Brooklyn Nets above other scenarios.Via Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports

Derrick Rose signed a life-time contract with Adidas for $260 million dollars. Brooklyn has no Cap Space right now. Houston, Atlanta, and Dallas, are not L.A., obviously. I cannot see a scenario in which Dwight would lose that much money skipping town, IMO.

I've explained reasons why he might leave; but when you look at the totality of his life circumstances, money is the biggest factor when you're weighing a life changing decision in this particular situation, IMO. WTS, I don't believe Dwight is going anywhere...

Last edited by dwighthowardsdad on Sun Feb 17, 2013 1:50 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Hmmm.... that kind of changes things a wee bit if true. And coming from Woj it probably is. Just how unhappy are you Dwight? Plus admittedly, like the rest of these guys now, he's about building his "brand". "Weiner" rather than "winner". How much is "having fun" worth to him plus being ripped mercilessly by the media until he finally wins somewhere else if he leaves L.A. "Kobe was no fun and he was mean to me" isn't going to go well explaining his thinking.

therealdeal wrote:I think worst case scenario for him re-signing here would be him being unhappy until Kobe leaves. Then once Kobe leaves, we're building a team around him anyway. Why wouldn't he be excited again?

And I wouldn't underestimate the effect of winning on someone with such a fragile psyche. Not to mention health. If he were feeling healthier, I think his outlook would look WAY different.

The Lakers fan that I am is trying to be rational and patient. But the Kobe fan in me is sick that Kobe may be stuck on 5.

You may be right, but I think there may be something other than playing with kobe, losing, and not being healthy that Dwight isn't happy about. It may be the spotlight of LA and the Shaq, Wilt, Kareem legacy bullcrap that will always be there for Howard completely independent of those other factors. I hope I'm wrong because when happy, motivated, and healthy, Howard is by far the best option available.

I just think all of that is compounded by his lack of ability and by the fact that we're losing.

Let's face it, winning is fun. I know he wants to have fun, but the Lakers are having fun when they're winning, or at least they always have in the past. I think if he were 100% healthy and was still acting like this (2010-2011 Dwight) then I'd be FAR more willing to take a pass on this guy. But he's hurt, we're losing, our owner is dying, and the people around him are starting to point fingers at him.

It's no wonder that we're not having fun this season.

The legacy stuff... I think at some level he's peeved by it, but I think at the most basic level he just wants to be great and he just wants to have fun. He's not great right now, and we're not having fun. I think he's just frustrated. But if he takes the summer to heal up and if we can help up collectively as a team... Not to mention trading Gasol for a package that better suits him and the team (I'm almost convinced the Lakers will do whatever they can to pull Love out of Minny using Gasol's expiring) then I think next season looks a LOT brighter and so does Howard's future here.

Howard's Next Adidas Deal Could Double In Los Angeles Or New York AreasJul 03, 2012 1:57 PM EDT

Dwight Howard's next endorsement deal with Adidas would be worth significantly more money if he is playing in a major market such as Los Angeles or Brooklyn, according to sources.

Howard could possibly earn more than double in either of those markets than he would otherwise.

Howard has repeatedly expressed a preference to end up with Brooklyn Nets above other scenarios.Via Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports

Derrick Rose signed a life-time contract with Adidas for $260 million dollars. Brooklyn has no Cap Space right now. Houston, Atlanta, and Dallas, are not L.A., obviously. I cannot see a scenario in which Dwight would lose that much money skipping town, IMO.

I've explained reasons why he might leave; but when you look at the totality of his life circumstances, money is the biggest factor when you're weighing a life changing decision in this particular situation, IMO. WTS, I don't believe Dwight is going anywhere...

I've seen that Adidas deal being talked about before, supposedly he stood to earn 350M if he went to Brooklyn. Never saw the LA numbers thrown in there with it. If they're comparable, we'll keep D12 afterall.

Definitely comparable. I think Addidas was also pushing Brooklyn because the new market would boost sales, but let's face it: anything attached to the Laker name is going to make bank. It's in LA, it's next to a bazillion resources.

This man stands to lose 5 or 6 lifetimes worth of money if he leaves LA. Make no bones about that.

therealdeal wrote:I just think all of that is compounded by his lack of ability and by the fact that we're losing.

Let's face it, winning is fun. I know he wants to have fun, but the Lakers are having fun when they're winning, or at least they always have in the past. I think if he were 100% healthy and was still acting like this (2010-2011 Dwight) then I'd be FAR more willing to take a pass on this guy. But he's hurt, we're losing, our owner is dying, and the people around him are starting to point fingers at him.

It's no wonder that we're not having fun this season.

The legacy stuff... I think at some level he's peeved by it, but I think at the most basic level he just wants to be great and he just wants to have fun. He's not great right now, and we're not having fun. I think he's just frustrated. But if he takes the summer to heal up and if we can help up collectively as a team... Not to mention trading Gasol for a package that better suits him and the team (I'm almost convinced the Lakers will do whatever they can to pull Love out of Minny using Gasol's expiring) then I think next season looks a LOT brighter and so does Howard's future here.

Well said. You've convinced me for now. I hope you're right...

“Action has meaning only in relationship; and without understanding relationship, action on any level will only breed conflict. The understanding of relationship is infinitely more important than the search for any plan of action.” -Jiddu Krishnamurti

If someone came along and offered me something ridiculous for Dwight, I'd probably take it anyway. If Love/Pekovic/Pick was on the table for example, I'd take it without batting an eye.

But right now, just about everything that could go wrong for us has gone wrong. Any person can see that. And when you consider that Dr. Buss has been dying for months, it's not weird to think our FO has been preoccupied and that our organization as a whole has been floundering in the wake of such an awful time.

I can't imagine how difficult it must be not only inside the locker room, but just within that organization right now. If we're taking this hard, imagine what his kids must be feeling.

CarolinaLakerFan wrote:If Dwight leaves, he does severe damage to his legacy.

Mikan= championChamberlain-from Philly to LA= championAbdul-Jabbar-from Milwaukee to LA= championShaq- from Orlando to LA= championDwight Howard- from Orlando to LA= leaves for Houston, Atlanta or Brooklyn after ONE SEASON?

The media will eat him alive. He'll be labeled as a quitter, and one who couldn't fill Wilt, Kareem and Shaq's shoes. I've been on record saying we need to trade him. I take that back. If he wants to leave, let him leave, and make his own bed. Mitch is in the driver's seat.

dwighthowardsdad wrote:He's had to get used to being the number 2 option for the first time in his career. It's been a process for him. It's not easy playing with Kobe who essentially has 1-2 more years. I honestly don't think they enjoy playing together, IMO. It's been that way for awhile. Kobe's isn't changing. Dwight just might bolt where they will cater to his needs & he might put that above winning, IMO.

I wouldnt necessarily say Kobe had a "better relationship" with Bynum. Difference was that Bynum was mentally tough to shut most of it down and move on forward. Howard on the other hand is a little on the sensitive side.